Egypt political figures, forces voice outrage over Israeli aggression in Gaza
Following latest Israeli assault on besieged Gaza Strip, Egyptian political parties and groups call for severing all ties with 'Zionist entity'
Ahram Online, Thursday 15 Nov 2012
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Palestinian mourners carry body of Hamas' top military commander Ahmed al-Jaabari, killed in an Israeli strike on Wednesday, during his funeral in Gaza City, Thursday (Photo: AP)
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Egyptian political forces and public figures reacted angrily to Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip Wednesday, which killed top Hamas commander Ahmed Al-Jaabari and 13 others.
Egypt's Salafist Nour Party stated in a press release that it would support the Palestinians of Gaza "financially, and with the necessary manpower," until all Palestinian rights were obtained. The party also offered its condolences to the Palestinian people for the deaths of Al-Jaabari and others.
The Muslim Brotherhood, from which Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi hails, called for mass protests Thursday and Friday in response to the Israeli assault. It stated that Israel's "criminal aggression" posed a "serious threat" to stability in the region.
Saad El-Katatni, head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), declared via Twitter on Wednesday that the Israeli attack on Gaza meant that "Israel had not yet realised that Egypt had changed and that the Egyptian people who revolted against injustice would not accept the aggression against Gaza."
FJP Vice-Chairman Essam El-Erian, however, was criticised when he commented via Twitter: "How can it be that our eastern borders are witnessing the start of a war and we don't have a functioning parliament?" Some saw El-Erian's comment as politically opportunist and disrespectful to those killed in Gaza.
Abdel-Moneim Aboul-Fotouh, former presidential candidate and head of the Strong Egypt Party, for his part, described recent events in Gaza as "a brutal escalation of the Zionists' insistence on assaulting the Palestinian people."
He added that resistance against illegal occupation was "a right guaranteed by international conventions," stressing that it was a "moral duty" to support the Palestinian resistance against Israeli aggression occupation.
Liberal figures and parties echoed this condemnation, emphasising Israel's breaches of international human rights conventions.